1. Field
Embodiments relate to a high resolution image obtaining apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a high resolution image obtaining apparatus and method that may reduce complexity and effectively obtain a high resolution image frame with respect to an input image frame.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the case of recording an image through using a digital camera or a digital video recorder, there may be difficulty in storing a high resolution image due to an optical limit caused by miniaturization of a camera, namely, limit of spatial resolution caused by an insufficient number of pixels of a charge-coupled device (CCD)/complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor and size variation during compressing/storing/transmitting of a recorded image. Accordingly, to obtain a high resolution image with respect to the recorded image, a high resolution image enhancement algorithm through signal analysis may be developed.
As an existing method of obtaining a high resolution image from a low resolution image, there are a sharpening method, an interpolation method, a super-resolution method, etc.
The sharpening method improves visibility of an image and improves resolution of the image using a differential operation or a high-pass emphasis filter.
The interpolation method assigns proper data values to pixels (referred to as a hole) that do not have an assigned pixel value to improve resolution of an image.
The super-resolution method provides a relatively higher resolution image than the above-mentioned methods. Representative examples are a reconstruction-based resolution enhancement algorithm and an example-based resolution enhancement algorithm.
The reconstruction-based resolution enhancement algorithm generates a high resolution image using many layers of an image frame. However, the reconstruction-based resolution enhancement algorithm is unsuitable for a general image having complex motion of an object.
The example-based resolution enhancement algorithm may obtain a high resolution image from a single image frame. However, the example-based resolution enhancement algorithm may be weak against noise and undesired artifacts may be generated.